Tuesday, September 30, 2008

On Saturday, I plan to be at Unraveled to just hang out and play with fiber and work on projects. It has been a while since I got a chance to do this. Lately, I have been busy with all kinds of activities and ventures. Just recently, I became the Southern California representative for SpinOlution Mach 1 spinning wheels. I am thrilled about this and have them available unfinished and finished, wholesale and retail. Just contact me if interested.

Also, I have been doing some dyeing and carding spinning/felting batts filled with all kinds of goodies like gorgeous hand-dyed wool, mohair curls, silk waste, Angelina and Firestar as well as wool nepps and whatever fun stuff falls into the carder. These spin and felt fabulously and have been great fun to make. Additionally, I had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time and was gifted by someone I just met with some tribal Afghani jewelry pieces. The Universe is conspiring to get me into beading and jewelry making. I can see these combined with all kinds of wonderful fibers and textiles. Can't wait to start playing with these.

Anyway, if you are in the area on Saturday, come into Unraveled and hang out, we'll have a bunch of giggles and fun with projects. Look forward to seeing you.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Yesterday was quite a day! It was a whirlwind of activity which started with picking up Jenny Dowde and her traveling companion/friend Sue at their hotel in San Diego. Jenny has made her first trip to the States at last and taught some workshops at the CGOA Conference in Portland, Oregon and in Carlsbad, California. She is an amazing freeform artist and author of three books. She and Sue had done quite a bit of sightseeing in the previous few days including Balboa Park (my personal favorite place.) We were on a mission to hit yarn, book and bead stores in the area in search of treasures.

We started out with a couple of places in Carlsbad with some lovely jewelry and amazing geodes. Next, we ended up at a wonderful yarn shop Black Sheep in Encinitas where we cruised all the yarns, beads and Jenny got a chance to see some of the incredible freeform garments and art dolls in the shop by the artistic Barbara Chapman. I have included a little snapshot of the owner Karen and Jenny. I love this shop a lot. We wandered down the coast past Mission Bay in all its' beauty and then headed inland to Old Town where we stopped at The Shepherdess and Lost Cities to check out yarns and beads again. Next was a stop for lunch and then on to find a Japanese book shop on the hunt for knitting and crochet books. This was an interesting challenge as all the titles were in Japanese but we did find some lovely books.

Our final stop was the climax of the day and was an incredibly overwhelming assemblage of beads of every kind and color imaginable as well as finished jewelry including amber (a personal favorite) which was stunning! On top of all of this, they were having a 50% off sale on tables and tables of beads. I have now officially been bitten by the bead bug and it is all Jenny's fault! We spent hours in this warehouse. We all made a bunch of purchases here. I found some beautiful coral and turquoise (see pictures) which I intend to combine with some old tribal Afghani metal beads and other goodies I have gathered over the years.

It was a wonderful day filled with laughter and good company. By the time we were done, we were all ready for supper and a good night's sleep filled with creative dreams of beads, freeform, yarns and new projects. Jenny and Sue are off home to Australia tomorrow and I can't wait until she plans to return and share all of her creativity again!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I feel really honored to have received an award for my blog from one of my favorite fiber artists HarpaJ from Iceland. She makes the most wonderful and whimsical hats that you can see here in her blog so do take a look. Another of my particular favorites is the amazing Sara Lechner.

It is my pleasure to nominate the incredibly talented Mitsuko Tonouchi for an award whose work can be seen in her blog too. She is another of my favorite artists and her work is always inspirational! Go to my favorite blogs to the left and click on their sites. (I can't figure out how to put links into the text for some reason.)

Looking at the work of all these creative artists encouraged me to break out of the doldrums and starting working again. I spent the last couple of days sorting out the workroom and re-arranging things so that it doesn't look like total chaos. Hurrah! I then worked up a couple of simple projects looking forward to the autumnal colors. Hope you enjoy these.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Things have been a challenge since I last posted. Have you ever felt that everything you do goes sideways? Well, this past few weeks have been that way for me. It feels like I have been unable to accomplish anything I set out to do. Projects are unfinished, personal deadlines are in disarray and the workroom looks like an avalanche hit! Additionally, anxiety about our Presidential election has taken a toll on me. I have actually had nightmares about this. It seems like many people have lost all reason and want to drag us backwards into bigotry and narrow-minded religiosity with women having no rights to govern their own bodies. If my memory serves me correctly, it didn't work out too well for most people in the past except for the rich and powerful.

Now that Fall is officially here, I am looking forward to being revitalized in the area of knitting and crocheting as well as designing. Today, I am going to be playing with yarns and experimenting. A good reorganization of the work area is in order too. I am also thinking that spinning up some yarns and carding spinning batts are needed to inspire me to new things. Hopefully, this will perk up my attitude about things and result in some interesting projects.

About Me

My early years were spent in the redwoods of Northern California. I come from a long tradition of gifted artists and needlewomen, so my love of fibery things comes naturally. Part of my childhood was spent on a farm where my favorite animals were the sheep, of course! I have always sort of made things up as I went along, a born designer I suppose.
Over the years, I've enjoyed teaching a range of fiberarts ranging from quilting, spinning, dyeing, knitting and crocheting as well as millinery techniques through Parks and Recreation, junior colleges and upscale yarn shops. This continues to be my greatest joy.